Thunderbirds Series 1, Episode 10: Save the Whale
by SatNavDan
Summary: Set in an alternate universe with my own characters. Following the discovery of a whale stranded on a beach in Hawaii, International Rescue are brought in to return it to see the sea where Wizzy realises it's in distress and decides to follow it back to find its family which is in danger from a dangerous whaling ship.
1. Pre-Titles

TRACY Island was peaceful and quiet. It was late at night and everyone except for Daniel, Wizzy and Zoë were asleep. Daniel had been busy finishing up a rescue report and Zoë had been tidying up the kitchen. Wizzy on the other hand was doing something that was rare in the Tracy household – she was watching the television.

The program that Wizzy was watching was a documentary about whales. Being an aquanaut, Wizzy had a great fondness for the creatures of the sea, and whales were her favourite, even though she'd never seen one in the flesh before.

Daniel took his empty mug back to the kitchen so it could be washed in the dishwasher.

"Is Wizzy's still up?" Zoë asked.

"Yes, but that program's almost finished," Daniel replied. "She'll be off to bed as soon as it has."

"Very well," said Zoë. She gave Daniel a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going up myself," she said. "Goodnight, son."

"Goodnight, Mum," said Daniel as he watched Zoë leave the kitchen.

* * *

After putting the mug in the dishwasher and turning it on, Daniel headed back to the lounge to shut down his computer and turn out the lights before turning in himself. But as he entered the lounge, he was surprised to find the television was still on. The program had finished and it was showing adverts on a cheap deal of beds. Surprised, he walked round to the front of the sofa to see why Wizzy hadn't turned it off. He soon saw why, for Wizzy had fallen asleep.

"Oh, Wizzy," Daniel sighed chuckling. He picked up the remote control and turned the television off before going over to his desk and shutting down the computer. He then came back over and put one arm under Wizzy's legs and the other round behind her back and neck before carefully lifting her up off the sofa. "Come on, sleepy-head, you can't stay there all night," he said.

Wizzy let out a soft moan and stirred as Daniel carried her out of the lounge. Daniel used Wizzy's foot to turn out the light switch before carrying her up the stairs towards the bedrooms.

"You haven't done this for a while," Wizzy said quietly.

"What carry you?" Daniel answered. "Well, you're a big girl now. But I was trying to get you to bed without disturbing you too much."

They reached Wizzy's bedroom and Wizzy opened the door to allow them to walk inside. Daniel carried her over to her bed where he gently laid her down on top of the duvet.

"There you go," Daniel said. He then stroked her hair. "Was the program that bad?"

Wizzy laughed. "No, Dad, it was great. Seeing those underwater images of the whales was so incredible. Awh, I really want to see one for myself. I've been an aquanaut for a few years now as you well know. And yet I have never seen a whale."

Daniel smiled. "They are elusive creatures, whales are," he said. "But I feel sure you will get you wish someday. However," he added, "when you do find one, make sure you mind your mammals around it."

Wizzy pushed Daniel away and started laughing. "Oh, Dad, you really don't get any better, do you?" she said.

Daniel just chuckled and headed for the door. "Now you get some sleep," he said. "Can't have you yawning your head off all day tomorrow."

Wizzy smiled. "Thank you, Dad," she said blowing him a kiss. "Goodnight."

Daniel blew a kiss back. "Goodnight, sweetheart," he said and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Wizzy got herself changed into her night clothes and removed the watch from her left wrist before climbing into bed. she turned out the bedside light and quickly fell asleep again. She couldn't help but dream about the whales that she'd seen in the documentary. Oh, I wish I could see a whale soon, she thought to herself.

Little did Wizzy realise this, but her wish was going to come sooner than she expected.

* * *

Morning broke over the island of Hawaii in the Central Pacific. It was the summer season and the beaches would be very busy.

Among the tourists staying in a hotel near Pearl Harbor were the Gordon family from Boston. James Gordon was staying with his wife Barbara and their three children Paul, Katherine and little Joy. They came to Hawaii every year, and pretty much every day, providing the weather was good, was pretty much spent sunbathing and swimming on the beach.

It was fairly early in the morning when the family headed out of the hotel to get onto the beach so that the kids could have their morning swim.

"I'll get to the water first!" shouted Paul as he ran out onto the beach.

"No, you won't!" Katherine shouted. "I will!"

"KIDS, WILL YOU SLOW DOWN?!" shouted James as he and Barbara struggled to keep up.

"SORRY, DAD!" Paul shouted back. "BUT I HAVE TO WIN…OOF!" Paul had run into something hard and was knocked onto his back.

Katherine saw what he'd bumped into and started screaming. She ran back to her parents and hid behind her mother.

"Darling, what is it?" asked Barbara. "What's the matter?"

James looked to see if Paul was okay. He froze when he saw what he'd run into. "Oh, my God!" he exclaimed.

Paul, getting over the surprise of being knocked over looked up to see what he had hit. He then gasped and hastily pulled himself backwards along the sand. The family continued to stare in disbelief, and the eyes of a large grey humpback whale stared back at them.

5! (DUN)

4! (DUN)

3! (DUN)

2! (DUN)

1! (ENGINE ROARS)

*Thunderbirds theme plays*

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!"


	2. Act I

The whale was literally sitting on the beach. It hadn't been there the day before meaning it had been washed up by the tide during the night. And the tide wasn't due to come back in for hours meaning there was no quick way for the local Police, Coastguard and Navy to get it back in the water.

Two Navy destroyers were brought out of Pearl Harbor and dropped anchor off the beach to keep surfers and water-skiers from sailing too close to where the whale was stranded. The Police did the same on the beach itself by creating a mile-wide exclusion zone on opposite sides of the whale. This also went right up to the road where several unhappy people were forced to stand back and watch.

"But, Mom!" complained Paul. "Why can't we play next to the whale?"

"Don't be stupid, Paul," replied Barbara. "Whales aren't meant to be on any beach."

"What's going to happen to it?" asked Katherine. "It's not going to die, is it?"

"They'll make sure to do what they can to keep it alive, I'm sure," said James comfortingly. Although deep down, he wasn't hopeful.

* * *

Word of the stranded whale had quickly spread and news crews were soon arriving in helicopters to catch the story. Among them was American Reporter Cat Cavanagh – who always somehow seemed to get to a big story in a record time.

"This is Cat Cavanagh reporting live from above Hawaii. There are dramatic scenes going on down on the beach near Pearl Harbor this morning following the discovery of a whale which has somehow got itself stuck on the sand. The Police have thrown a mile-wide exclusion zone on each side of the whale to keep the large crowd of tourists at bay and the Navy are anchored out just off the beach to make sure nobody gets in too close from the water. it is unclear how such a large whale, which looks to be a humpback, could've gotten stuck on the beach, nor is it clear how the local authorities will get it back into the sea."

The newscast from Cat's helicopter was intercepted by Thunderbird 5. Kerry, Katrina and Becky watched it with growing concern.

"That sure is a big whale," said Katrina. "Can they really get that back in the sea?"

"Certainly not quickly that's for sure," said Becky. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I don't see why we couldn't," Kerry said. "Thunderbird 2 has the power to lift a heavy creature like that. I'll contact Daniel and put him in the picture. Maybe he or Jodie can come up with some ideas."

The Tracy family had just finished breakfast when Kerry's call came through. They were just as surprised when she showed them the video feed from the helicopter.

"Blimey!" exclaimed Beth. "Is that for real?"

"I wouldn't be showing it to you if it wasn't, Beth," Kerry said. "As you can see, they've created an exclusion zone around the whale to keep people away. But I can't see how they're going to move it without heavy equipment."

"They would need to dig a trench underneath before getting lifting cables around it," Jodie said. "But that could take hours."

"And in that heat, it's very unlikely that it would survive," agreed Laura.

Wizzy looked sadly at the whale in the hologram. This all seemed very weird having been watching the documentary the night before. "Can't we help?" she asked.

"I'm glad you brought that up, Wizzy," said Kerry. "I was going to ask your permission, Daniel, to contact the Hawaiian authorities and offer our services?"

Everyone looked at Daniel. "Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "We didn't really set International Rescue to save animals, but I don't see why we can't. Sure, Kerry, go ahead."

"F-A-B," said Kerry and she signed off.

"This wouldn't be the first animal we've had to save, Dad," said Katie. "You remember that family of cats we rescued a couple of years back?"

"That was during the Colorado floods, wasn't it?" asked Adrienne.

Katie nodded.

"Yes, I do remember," said Daniel. "Although there were people in danger as well. The owners needed saving as well as the cats."

"If we do get permission, what will we need to take?" Leanna asked.

Jodie had been pondering that very question. "That's a tough one, Leanna," she said. "We can't use the Mole to dig under the whale, the drill and rollers could cause injury. Same with the Excavator. We could however use the interchangeable pods and make them into diggers."

"What about the Firefly?" asked Beth. "Don't whales need to be kept cool?"

"Yes, they do," said Jodie. "That's also a possibility. We could use that or one of the other fire vehicles to spray water onto the whale to keep it cool from the heat."

"And then when we're done, we can use Firefly's blade to refill the trenches we did," added Katie.

"What about getting it back into the water though?" asked Joanne.

"That part's easy," said Daniel. "We can simply use Thunderbird 2's cables to lift it up and carefully put it back in the water again. Then it can swim away safely."

"What about Thunderbird 4?" asked Wizzy. "Could she be used in any way?"

"I don't see how she could, Wizzy," said Jodie. "That's unless you've got any suggestions?"

Wizzy hesitated for a moment. "Well…not during the actual recovery," she said. "But once it's back in the water maybe I could escort it away from the beach so that it doesn't try and beach itself again?"

The others were puzzled.

"Why would the whale want to beach itself?" asked Adrienne.

"Distress," said Wizzy. "Sometimes when whales are stressed they go looking for help and sometimes they beach themselves in order to get attention."

"Was what you're saying in that documentary last night?" asked Daniel. Even though he'd been in the lounge whilst the program had been on, he hadn't been paying attention to it.

"Yes, Dad, it was," said Wizzy.

Kerry suddenly reappeared on the hologram-scope. "Three words," she said. "Thunderbirds are go!"

"F-A-B!" said Daniel. "Right, here's what we'll do. Jodie, have two of the interchangeable pods removed from Pod 2 and have the Firefly put in there. We'll use the other two as diggers. Wizzy, we won't have room to carry Thunderbird 4 but if you want to, you can take her by sea although it may take you a while to get there."

"Well you won't get the job done in five minutes, Dad," said Wizzy. "I can get there within an hour I reckon."

"Very well," said Daniel. "Now I reckon we'll need every available pair of hands we can get so Sian and Cassidy, you come with us in Thunderbird 2. Adie and Beth, you go with Laura in Thunderbird 1. Jodie, it might be an idea if you came as well so you can have a first-band look at the whale."

Jodie nodded. "Certainly, Mr Tracy," she said.

Daniel clapped his hands. "Let's go, people!"

* * *

The team split up. Laura hurried over to the revolving wall panel that led to the revolving elevator that would take her down to Thunderbird 1. After having turned through the wall and standing on the elevator, robotic arms attached her uniform to her as it went down. At the same time, Katie, Rosie, Jodie, Leanna, Wizzy, Sian and Cassidy hurried out of the lounge to make their way down to Thunderbird 2 whilst Daniel hurried over to the large rocket painting on the wall. He leaned back against it and it began to tilt backwards sending him sliding down into a harness which took him down a long green tunnel. Robotic arms worked to attach his blue uniform with green utility sash as he went down. Once all that was complete, the rail his harness was on moved from the bottom side of the tunnel to the top side. Laura was now in her uniform and being carried out on a retractable walkway to Thunderbird 1. She sat down in the seat which was then moved inside before the hatchway sealed. She was shortly joined by Beth and Adrienne who'd got their suits through a couple of the other express elevators leading to the silos. They took their positions in the seats located underneath Laura's and strapped themselves in. The trolley that Thunderbird 1 stood on began to move taking Thunderbird 1 up the diagonal tunnel towards its launching bay under the swimming pool. Daniel then reached Thunderbird 2's silo and swung down through the hatch in the top before closing the hatch behind him. He hurried to his seat and sat down before selecting Pod 2 on the computer. The pod conveyor activated moving Pod 1 underneath. Once Pod 2 was in position, the main body of Thunderbird 2 was lowered down onto it. Whilst all this had been going on, Katie, Jodie, Leanna, Cassidy, Sian and Rosie had travelled down express elevators from the mansion to the silo and like Daniel had been changed into their uniforms on the way. They were now able to join Daniel in the cockpit and were ready to go. The rocks concealing the entrance to the hanger were lowered to allow Thunderbird 2 to taxi out onto the runway. As it came out, the palm trees were tilted back to allow it to pass. Up by the house, the swimming pool was opening up ready for Thunderbird 1 which was just coming into position on the launch pad. Thunderbird 2 was now on the launching ramp which lifted up into position. The wings folded into position and the blast shield rose into place behind the rocket engines.

5…4…3…2…1!

The rocket engines of Thunderbird 1 fired and it lifted up off the launch ramp, though the gap where the swimming pool had been before climbing high into the clear blue skies above Tracy Island. Thunderbird 2's own engines fired and it lifted up off the ramp to join its sister-ship.

"Thunderbirds are go!" said Daniel as the two ships headed north towards Hawaii. "See you when you get there, Wizzy."

"F-A-B, Dad," Wizzy replied. She was in Thunderbird 4 which had already been moved from Pod 4 to the nearby cave where it could head out into the open sea. Once the crane had lowered the small yellow craft into the water, Wizzy started up the engines and headed out of the cave to begin her much longer journey to Hawaii.

* * *

The Hawaiian authorities had already begun digging a trench around the sides of the whale, but they were only using shovels which was going to take a very long time. They had also put some protective sheets over the top of it in order to keep the sun off its body.

"Aren't you going to move it?" James shouted to the Chief of Police.

"Sir, have you any idea how much that thing weighs?" the Chief asked. "We need special equipment before we can get it back into the water."

"Well where the hell is this equipment then?" asked James. "Don't tell me you're waiting for it to arrive from the States?"

"That thing won't last the day!" agreed Barbara.

Just then a loud roar of jet engines made everyone look upwards to see the sleek silver shape of Thunderbird 1 arrive on the scene.

"Hey, it's International Rescue!" cried Paul excitedly.

The crowd cheered as Thunderbird 1 hovered overhead.

From her seat in the cockpit, Laura surveyed the scene. "Gosh, that whale is certainly big," she told the others. "At least they've covered it over to protect it from the heat."

"That saves us one little job," said Daniel. "Is there room on the beach for the ships?"

"Easy," said Laura. "I'll put Thunderbird 1 down on the left side of the whale and you can put the pod down on the right."

"F-A-B," said Daniel. "We can just make out the coastline on the horizon. We'll be with you in two minutes."

* * *

As Laura gently guided Thunderbird 1 down towards the beach, she noticed that several people in the crowd were pointing their cameras and phones towards her. "Will they ever learn?" Laura sighed and pressed a button. It sent out an invisible shockwave which turned everyone's cameras off and wiped any photographic records that they had taken of them. It would remain that way until after the operation. She could see everyone was now fiddling with the cameras trying to work out was wrong with them. "Sorry, everyone," Laura called out over the PA system. "But you should know by now that International Rescue cannot be photographed or filmed."

"Ha! They didn't like that, did they?" chuckled Adrienne.

There were several grumbles amongst the crowd and several had to back away quickly when the power of Thunderbird 1's jets kicked up a great cloud of sand-dust. Laura, Beth and Adrienne then disembarked and came over to the Police Chief.

"Glad you could come, International Rescue!" the Chief said. "We've been getting bombarded with questions as to why we aren't getting the whale back in the sea."

"Didn't you tell them that heavy equipment is needed?" asked Laura.

"Yeah, but that didn't stop them," the Chief replied. "Speaking of the heavy-gear, when will it be here?"

Laura pointed up into the sky. "Here it comes now," she said.

All eyes now turned to see Thunderbird 2 coming down towards the beach. Daniel and the girls could all now see the whale for themselves.

"Woah, big fish!" remarked Sian.

"Mammal, Sian!" Wizzy said sharply over the radio. "Whales are mammals."

"Wizzy, there's no need to get defensive about it!" Daniel said sternly.

"Sorry," Wizzy said. "I guess I'm just worried about the whale."

"We all are, Wizzy," said Katie. "But we'll get it back in the ocean. Coming in to land."

* * *

Just like Thunderbird 1, Thunderbird 2's engines kicked up a huge cloud of sand-dust as it landed on the beach. The legs came down and lifted the main body clear of Pod 2. It then lifted off again retracting the legs as it went leaving the pod on the beach.

"Okay, girls, you're up," said Daniel.

"F-A-B!" answered Beth, Adrienne and Leanna. Leanna had already climbed aboard the Firefly by the time Beth and Adrienne had got into the pod. They then programed the robotic arms to make the two read interchangeable pods into diggers with crawler-tracks and shovels on the front. They were like the bulldozer pod only the buckets were different design and the arms were more flexible.

As the three vehicles drove out from the pod, Jodie and Rosie were busy making sure that Cassidy and Sian got to do something as well.

"These hoses will be needed to pump water from the sea," Jodie was saying. "Sian, I want you to take one down to the water whilst I take the other. Cassidy, I want you take the other end with Rosie and attach them to the back of Firefly. Is that clear?"

"F-A-B," said Sian and Cassidy together.

They quickly set to work. Jodie and Sian took the ends of the red hoses and ran them down to the sea where they put the ends down in the water. Cassidy and Rosie took the other end of the hoses over to where Firefly was standing and attached them to the back of it.

"Pumps in place, Leanna," said Rosie.

"F-A-B," said Leanna. "Jodie, how's things your end?"

"Hoses are in the water, Beth," said Jodie. "Ready when you are."

"Okay," said Leanna. "Firefly to Diggers. I'm about to commence spraying."

"Understood," answered Beth.

"We're about to start digging," said Adrienne.

As Leanna activated the pumps, water sprayed out from the Firefly's rear-mounted hoses onto the top of the whale. The Police had removed the sheets so that it would be more effective. At the same time, Beth began using her digger to make a trench on the left side of the whale whilst Adrienne did the same on the right. Laura stood back with the Police Chief whilst Jodie, Rosie, Sian and Cassidy watched from by the pod and Daniel and Katie watched from Thunderbird 2 which was now hovering nearby.

"How's it going?" Wizzy asked over the radio.

"So far, so good, Wizzy," Daniel said. "Leanna's using Firefly to spray water onto the whale whilst Beth and Adie are using the digger-pods to create a trench around the whale. Hopefully by the time you get here we'll be ready to lift."

"Great," said Wizzy. "I'll be there in about twenty minutes." But as Thunderbird 4 continued its route, Wizzy couldn't help worrying. Any second could so easily be the whale's last.


	3. Act II

Lady Penelope and Parker were making their way down a country lane in FAB1. It was late at night and they were approaching their destination – a waste disposal plant located north of London. It was here where they believed the American Gangster Roman Sionis was hiding out. It was here that they believed the dustcarts his crew had been using to rob banks with were coming to and had already trailed a truck that had done a job in Norwich to this location.

"There it h'is, m'lady," said Parker. "What's h'our next move?"

"We'll leave the car out of sight and go in on foot, Parker," replied Penelope. "I hope our back-up isn't far away."

The back-up that Penelope was referring to was Karolina in Thunderbird 7. Due to learning about Sionis' fearsome reputation, Penelope felt that an extra pair of hands would be a good idea.

"FAB1 to Thunderbird 7, where abouts are you, Karolina?"

"I'm almost there, Lady Penelope," Karolina replied. "I'm homing in on the signal from your car. ETA – three minutes."

"Good," said Penelope. "We're going to leave the car and move in on foot."

"Be careful in there," said Karolina. "I'll try a landing on the roof and join you inside."

Penelope and Parker left FAB1 and headed towards the building. It looked very sinister with orange glows coming from its two tall chimneys as it incinerated the waste brought to it.

They managed to get in without being spotted and soon found themselves on a small gantry overlooking the loading bay. Two orange dustcarts were parked underneath and men dressed in black suits with black masks over their faces were busy loading stacks of money onto the conveyor belts.

"Cor!" exclaimed Parker. "That's h'a lot h'off dosh!"

"They've been hitting a lot of banks," agreed Penelope. "I don't know what Mr Sionis wants with English currency but we can't let him leave the country with any of it, Parker. We have to stop him."

"Right behind you, m'lady," said Parker.

They jumped down from the gantry and began to take down the henchmen. Penelope was the first to catch one. She had concealed herself beside the dustcart and then grabbed him from behind. Parker had done the same but round and corner. Penelope then took down two men using the floor grates and Parker used his grapple gun to pull a man down from the upper level. However, the guy had screamed which had alerted the others to the fact there was uninvited guests in the building.

"Was that really necessary, Parker?" asked Penelope, slightly annoyed.

"Sorry, m'lady," replied Parker.

They concealed themselves behind crates as two men came down the two staircases. They waited until their backs were turned before using their grappling guns to pull them back into the shadows and knock them out. They then moved up the stairs and into the big incinerator room where the rest of the men were patrolling.

At that same moment, Thunderbird 7 was arriving at the plant. Karolina saw there was a perfect place for her to land on the side of the building. The roof was too cluttered. She came in and used the claws underneath the aircraft to grab onto the wall. She then opened the cockpit canopy and used her grapple-gun to pull herself up onto the roof. She ran to a nearby glass window and looked inside. She could see a large circular room with two walkways a third and two-thirds of the way down. She could just make out the distinctive figures of Penelope and Parker as they worked to take down the armed men patrolling the area.

"Time to join in," Karolina told herself as she climbed up the nearby chimney in order to jump down onto the glass.

Penelope and Parker had taken out all but four of the men. As they worked together to take two of them down on the upper walkway, they found themselves trapped with the two remaining men blocking off the exits.

"FREEZE!" yelled one of the men. "DON'T MOVE!"

"ON YOUR KNEES!" shouted the other man. "GET YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!"

"DO AS YOU'RE TOLD, NOW!" thundered the first man.

CRASH!

Penelope, Parker and the two men looked up in alarm as the window above them shattered. Karolina dropped down and landed right on top of one of the gunmen. This distracted the other one long enough so that Parker could throw Penelope up into the air so she could land on top of him as well.

"Glad you could drop in, Karolina," joked Penelope.

"Didn't keep you waiting, did I?" Karolina asked, grinning.

"Not at all," said Penelope. "You arrived just in time, as a matter of fact."

The three quickly headed over to the foreman's office. They were confident he'd be able to tell them where Sionis was located.

Karolina kicked the door in and approached the foreman. "Where is Roman Sionis?" she asked.

"I'm not scared of you!" growled the foreman. He lunged forwards to attack Karolina but she grabbed him and pushed him through the window where she held him by the ankles. The foreman cried out in terror for he was hanging over the incinerator pit.

"Where is he?!" Karolina asked again.

"No! NO!" the foreman cried. "I CAN'T TELL YOU! HE'LL KILL ME!"

"I really think you should," said Penelope. "I think that h'our colleague's grip is loosening."

"AAAH, NO!" screamed the foreman. "OKAY, OKAY, I'LL TALK!"

"Well?" said Parker. "We're waiting."

"HE'S IN THE MAIN OFFICE!" yelled the foreman. "BUT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GET IN THERE! IT'S IMPREGNABLE!"

"We see about that," said Karolina. She then pulled him back in and threw him onto the floor. He was white and panting heavily. Karolina then kicked him in the face and knocked him unconscious.

"What a helpful chap," remarked Penelope.

"Indeed," agreed Karolina.

"Good sport," chuckled Parker.

* * *

Adrienne and Beth had successfully dug a trench along each side of the whale. But now came the tricky part. They needed to remove two small sections of sand from underneath so that Thunderbird 2's cables could be attached.

"It's too dangerous to use the digger-pods any further," Jodie said. "Our best option is to use shovels."

"Two each side?" asked Beth.

"Yes, it'll get done a lot quicker that way," said Jodie. "You do the front down this side and Cassidy can do the rear one. Adie and Sian, you can do the same on the other side."

"F-A-B," the girls said and set to work.

Laura used her jetpack to hover over the whale to guide the girls to the right places. "Adie, you need to move two degrees to your left," she was saying. "Cassidy, you're too far up. You need to go right to the end."

"Okay, Laura," Cassidy replied. She dug the shovel into the sand and then threw it up out of the trench behind her.

Rosie looked at the whale. Its eyes were barely open. "Do you think we'll make it in time?" she asked Jodie.

"We've got to," Jodie replied. "We've come too far to fail now."

At that moment, Thunderbird 4 emerged from beneath the surface. "How's it going?" Wizzy asked.

"The initial trenches have been dug, Wizzy," said Daniel. "They're now going to dig the holes under the whale so we can lift it out."

Wizzy looked over at the whale. She could see the brown and white uniforms of Jodie and Rosie respectively standing nearby. "How's the whale looking, Rosie?" she asked.

"Not good, I'm afraid, Wizzy," Rosie replied. "It's barely got its eyes open."

Wizzy felt a lump in her throat. "No, no, no, please don't die."

"Wizzy, calm down," said Daniel. "Leanna's keeping it cool with the water. that should help."

Wizzy took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Sorry, Dad, I can't help it," she said. "I know I said last night how much I wanted to see a whale, but I never wanted it to be like this."

"Say, Wizzy," said Laura who had landed Thunderbird 1 so that she could supervise Beth and Cassidy. "I don't suppose you'd happen to know what gender this whale is, do you?"

Wizzy looked closely at the live footage of the whale. "I'm not 100%, Laura, but at a very rough guess I'd say it's a male," she said.

"Really?" asked Sian wiping the sweat from her brow. "How can you tell the difference?"

"Females are usually a lot bigger," Wizzy said. "Just be glad it's not a female Blue Whale. They're about the same size as those Navy ships."

The girls looked out at the two anchored Destroyers and gulped. They were big vessels so they could understand what Wizzy meant.

"I'm certainly glad about that," remarked Katie. "I doubt even Thunderbird 2 could lift something that large!"

"Don't worry, Katie, those kind of whales tend to stay well away from the shore so I wouldn't think we'll have to deal with something like that."

"Phew," Katie said quietly to herself.

It wasn't long before the girls had finished digging the holes under the whale. Beth, Cassidy, Sian and Adrienne were now ready for the final part of the operation to begin.

"Okay, Thunderbird 2 – it's your turn," said Laura.

Katie brought Thunderbird 2 over the beach and hovered directly above the whale. Daniel then used the targeting computer to lower the magnetic grapple cables down where the girls passed the clamps through the holes they'd dug and attached them together.

"Front cables secure," said Beth.

"Rear cables ready," added Cassidy.

"Okay, everyone, get back," said Laura.

The girls climbed out of the trenches and moved away to a safe distance.

"All yours, Thunderbird 2," said Jodie. "Take it easy now."

"F-A-B," said Daniel and Katie together.

Steadily increasing power to the engines, Thunderbird 2 began to slowly rise upwards until the cables were taught, then the whale began to be lifted up off the beach. Leanna continued to spray water onto it from the Firefly until it was over the sea. Everyone watched as Thunderbird 2 carefully carried the whale over the sea past the two Destroyers and then gently lowered it back into the water. once it was submerged, the cables were released and it began to swim again.

Wizzy breathed a sigh of relief. "He's okay," she told everyone. "He's on his way."

Laura gave a thumbs up to the crowd who cheered and clapped.

"Great job everyone," said Daniel. "Now let's get the beach back to the way it was and let those people enjoy themselves."

Adrienne and Beth climbed back into their digger-pods and began to push the sand back into the trenches. Leanne helped with Firefly. Cassidy, Sian, Jodie and Rosie had taken the hoses off the back of the Firefly and were rolling them back up to be put inside Pod 2.

Wizzy had submerged in Thunderbird 4 to watch the whale swimming under the water. it was without a doubt one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever seen. It was just like seeing the ones in the documentary. But then, the whale did something very unexpected.

"Er, guys, we may have a problem," said Wizzy. "It's turned around!"

"What do you mean?" asked Daniel.

"It's heading back to the beach!" Wizzy exclaimed.

Daniel and Katie looked down from Thunderbird 2. Wizzy was right, the whale had indeed turned round and was heading back to the beach.

"We have to stop it!" said Katie. "I'll drop a few bombs in front of it and…"

"NO!" Wizzy cried. "Don't do that! I'm going to try something!"

Before anyone could reply, Wizzy pushed Thunderbird 4 to top speed and raced in front of the whale. She then turned around and stopped right in front of it.

"Wizzy, what are you doing?!" asked Jodie. "That whale could throw you out of the water with its tail!"

Wizzy paid no attention. She was busy making an adjustment to one of the controls. "Stop!" she said. That was what everyone heard her say over the radio, but out in the open, everyone heard a strange whistling sound.

Daniel and Katie watched in surprise. The whale had stopped right in front of Thunderbird 4.

"You can't go back to the beach," Wizzy said. "You'll die!"

"Who's she talking to?" asked Cassidy.

Jodie and Rosie looked at each other.

"Is she…?" Rosie began.

The whistling noise came again, but this time, it wasn't from Thunderbird 4.

"My God!" gasped Jodie. "She's…talking to it!"

"Guys, for your information, I'm using the universal translator to speak to it," Wizzy said. "Now give me some peace here whilst I try and talk it down."

So everyone kept quiet.

"Why did you beach yourself?" Wizzy asked the whale. "Are you in some kind of trouble? Where are your family?"

Wizzy's words were translated into whale-talk which it could hear. Tricked into thinking it was another whale, it started to reply. It could only whistle though but what it was saying was revealed to Wizzy on her computer screen.

"Help. Family. Danger. Hunted." Wizzy said.

"Oh, gosh!" exclaimed Leanna.

Katie looked at Daniel. "You know what that means?" she said.

Daniel nodded grimly. "Yes," he said. "Whale-hunters!"

"Hang on a second!" said Sian. "Are we saying that the whale came looking for someone to help?"

"Isn't that what you were saying earlier, Wizzy?" asked Beth.

"Yes, Beth, it was," Wizzy replied. "However, I can't believe that he's come from a massive distance. He wouldn't travel too far from his family."

"Meaning they could be nearby?" asked Adrienne.

"Correct," said Wizzy. "Dad, I want to reunite the whale with his family. Can I ask him to take me to them?"

"If you can convince him to," said Daniel.

So Wizzy spoke to the whale again. "Listen to me, please. I want to help you and your family if I can. Can you take me to them?"

Whale whistled in reply and began to turn around.

"Blimey, Wizzy!" exclaimed Katie. "You did it!"

"Thanks, Katie," said Wizzy. "I'm going to follow him and see where he takes me."

"Okay, Wizzy," said Daniel. "But if you happen to come across any whale-hunters, contact the GDF and give them the location. However, if they get too close to any whales, see if you can guide them away to safety."

"Understood, Dad," said Wizzy.

"Once we're finished here we'll drop the equipment back at the island, then Katie and I will collect Pod 4 can come back for you," Daniel added.

"F-A-B," said Wizzy. She set Thunderbird 4 into motion once more and headed off after the whale. She had no idea what to expect on the journey, but she hoped she would be prepared for it.

* * *

Penelope, Parker and Karolina had managed to take down another group of Sionis's henchmen as they made their way from the incinerator chamber to the plant's main office. However, between them and the office was a circular room with a group of men including one with a mini-gun. This wasn't a battle they could simply drop down into without getting ripped to pieces. The other three men in the room were also armed so diving straight in would be suicide.

"We need to get rid of the mini-gunner first," Penelope whispered. "It would take the combined efforts of the three of us to take him down though."

"Giving the h'others plenty of h'opportunity to h'attack," agreed Parker.

Karolina was used to stealthy operations such as this and her experience was already coming into its own. "I see a chance," she said. "The wall behind him is weak. I can use that air vent to access that room and spray explosive gel onto the wall. Once he's down, then we can deal with the others."

"Do it," said Penelope approvingly.

"H'explosive gel?" Parker said. "Why do we never get given that kind h'of 'ardware?"

"Shush, Parker," Penelope replied. "Let Karolina do her job."

Karolina hadn't heard any of this as she dropped down through the floor grate and was now in the room behind where the mini-gunner was. The wall was old and had holes in it which how she'd realised it was weak. She quickly sprayed some explosive gel onto the wall before retreating back into the vent. She used her grapple gun to get back up to where Penelope and Parker were waiting. They had now positioned themselves in separate areas around the upper walkway where they could pounce down onto the weaker henchmen. Once Karolina was in position behind the third, they were ready.

BOOM! The gel detonated destroying the wall and knocking the mini-gunner unconscious.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed one of the other henchmen in shock. "The big guy's down!"

This was their chance. Penelope, Parker and Karolina jumped over the sides of the walkway and landed simultaneously on top of the three remaining henchmen. All three were knocked out instantly.

"Good show, Karolina," said Penelope. "We're getting close."

They passed through the doors only to find yet more henchmen in the next room. These weren't armed but there was more than double of what they were.

"Hey, we got company!" shouted one of the men when he saw them. "GET THEM!"

The men ran forwards whilst Penelope and Karolina got ready to battle. Parker stood behind with his fist clenched. This was going to be a big battle for them.

As the two groups clashed, the two young women showed how strong and agile they were as they took each of the twenty men down one by one. Any that got passed them had to take on Parker. They'd gone into this battle with confidence only for that to be shattered as even Parker had shown that despite his appearance and age, he was able to land more powerful blows than they could.

It took less than two minutes for them to completely take down the twenty men with Penelope delivering the final blow to a man with the heel of her boot.

"Easy, isn't it?" said Karolina.

"Don't get cocky, Karolina," warned Penelope. "We've still got the ones with Sionis to deal with."

They walked up to the next set of doors and opened them. there were no men with machine-guns but there was a sniper poised ready for them.

"You ain't getting past me!" the sniper shouted firing at them. they managed to duck to cover.

"Great!" said Penelope. "How are we supposed to get past him?"

Karolina spotted another floor grate between them, but the sniper would see if any of them tried to get into it. Luckily, she'd come prepared. "Smoke pellet," she said. "I throw it, you jump into grate and get close."

Penelope nodded. Karolina took a smoke pellet out of her utility belt and threw it round at the sniper. It realised a huge cloud of smoke surrounding him.

"Ugh – damn smoke!" cursed the sniper. "I can't see!"

Penelope quickly got into the grate and crawled along until she was at the exit point right at the sniper's feet. Parker then distracted the sniper but revealing his hand and waving. As the sniper prepared to fire, Penelope leapt out of the grate and pushed the sniper back. They crashed through a glass window into the main office where a man in a white suit and a black mask over his face was sitting in a large golden chair.

"What the hell is this?!" Roman Sionis demanded.

Parker and Karolina jumped down into the office to join Penelope. They soon found themselves surrounded by Sionis' men. There was about thirty of them. They didn't have guns, but some were armed with baseball bats. This was going to be even tougher than the last.


	4. Act III

Leanna reversed the Firefly into Pod 2 once Beth and Adrienne had driven the digger-pods inside. As the door closed, Thunderbird 2 came down and lowered its big legs. It was then lowered down onto the pod and locked into place before lifting off again. Laura had also returned to Thunderbird 1 and was taking-off as well. The crowd cheered and waved as the two Thunderbirds flew away and the beach was now re-opened.

"Aww!" moaned Paul. "I never got their autographs!"

James laughed. "Son, I'm afraid that International Rescue don't do that sort of thing I'm afraid. They like to stay out of the public limelight as best they can."

Paul watched in disappointment as Thunderbirds 1 and 2 disappeared into the distance.

* * *

As they headed back towards Tracy Island, Laura had a sudden thought. "Dad, should I go after Wizzy and see how she's getting on?" she asked.

"No, Laura, if her theory is right and there really is a whaling ship near the family of whales your presence might scare them off."

"I wonder how she is doing?" said Katie. "We haven't heard from her for a while now."

"Let's leave her be for the time being," said Daniel. "Let her contact us when she's ready. Kerry, I presume you're tracking Thunderbird 4?"

"Yes, Daniel," Kerry answered. "She and the whale are approximately thirty miles to the north-west of Hawaii. And my scanners are detecting movement of other creatures in the area. Looks like she may be getting close."

* * *

Kerry was right, Wizzy was indeed getting close. The whale was calling out in its language, but not to her. As Wizzy listened, she heard the sound of another whale calling back.

"Guys, I think I may have something," Wizzy said into her radio. "The whale is communicating with another. And my scanners are detecting two others nearby."

"I see them too, Wizzy," said Kerry. "One's very large, almost double the size of the one you're following and the other is about the same size as Thunderbird 4."

Wizzy's eyes lit up gave a gasp of joy. "I can see them!" she cried excitedly. "Awwwww! It's a mum and a baby!"

The male whale continued to communicate with the female as they came up to each other. The female was staying very close to the baby whale. As Thunderbird 4 got closer, Wizzy's excitement changed to confusion.

"That's strange," said Wizzy. "They all seem perfectly fine to me."

" No sign of any whale-hunters in the area?" asked Daniel.

"Negative," said Kerry. "There is a surface vessel but its heading east. It must be a cargo ship."

"Well, Wizzy, I think your job's done," said Daniel. "You can stay with them if you'd like until we come for you. We're almost back at the island."

"F-A-B, Dad," said Wizzy. "I intend to make the most of…" She broke off very suddenly as something caught her eye. The two big whales were now looking at her. And the female suddenly began talking in their language. The words appeared on the screen in Thunderbird 4's cockpit. "Save baby?"

"Beg your pardon, Wizzy?" said Daniel.

"The female whale," said Wizzy. "It just said 'Save baby' to me."

"Why?" asked Laura. "Is the baby whale hurt?"

Wizzy looked at the baby whale. "Looks okay to me," she said. "It's just been swimming round in circles." But then, as the baby whale turned, Wizzy gasped out loud. "Oh, my God! There's a harpoon in its side!"

The others exchanged alarmed looks. Daniel gritted his teeth. "That explains it," he said. "There _were_ whale-hunters after the family."

"I'm going to see if I can get it out of him," said Wizzy. She then spoke to the two adult whales. "I'm going to try and remove the harpoon from your baby. I give you my word that I won't hurt him."

The whales whistled in response and Wizzy put on her helmet. Luckily they were near to the surface so Wizzy could easily swim out of Thunderbird 4 and up to the baby whale. Upon closer examination, the harpoon wasn't too deep into its side, but it still looked to be in some discomfort.

"Easy, little one," said Wizzy as she patted it lovingly on the side. "I'm here to help you."

The whale let out a slight whimpering sound as Wizzy carefully began to ease the harpoon out of its side. The adults swam in circles around them for protection. Luckily, it didn't take long for Wizzy to remove the harpoon from the baby's side. It still had an entry wound but it wasn't too deep meaning that it would heal pretty soon.

"There you go," said Wizzy. "You'll be okay now."

The baby whale whistled in gratitude and swam over to its parents. They then whistled to Wizzy showing their own gratitude and began to swim away. Wizzy waved even though they didn't wave back.

"How's it going, Wizzy?" Daniel asked over the radio.

"It's done, Dad," said Wizzy. "I removed the harpoon. They're on their way now."

"Good job," said Daniel. "I hope they said thank you."

Wizzy smiled. "They did," she said. "I'm returning to…" She was cut off yet again. She could hear a strange sound coming from behind her. "Hold on, I can hear something," she said.

Then Kerry revealed the very news she didn't want to hear. "Wizzy, you know that ship I mentioned? It's changed course. It's heading straight for you and the whales!"

Wizzy turned round and looked up to see the bottom of a large ship sailing above her. Then a harpoon entered the water and headed straight for the whales. Luckily it missed, but they became aware of the ship's presence and scattered in panic. Wizzy hastily swam back to Thunderbird 4.

"Wizzy, come in!" said Daniel urgently. "What's happening?"

"It's a whaling-ship!" Wizzy cried. "It's attacking the family!"

"Shit!" Daniel said. "Try and get them away if you can. We've just launched again and will be with you ASAP!"

Wizzy re-entered the cockpit of Thunderbird 4 and began heading towards the whaling ship. She wanted to disable it by firing a torpedo, but knew that Daniel wouldn't be too happy with her if she did. she then had an idea. She sent out a false radar echo from Thunderbird 4 mimicking the whale sounds. She hoped that this might draw the attention of the whaling-ship's crew.

"Captain!" shouted one of the crew on the bridge. "There's another one – ten metres off the port beam!"

The Captain peered over the side of the ship. "Get after it!" he ordered.

The ship's crew began firing a salvo of harpoons down into the water at what they believed was a whale. But it was in fact Thunderbird 4. Wizzy quickly moved out of the way, dodging and diving. Some of the harpoons hit the hull but easily bounced off again.

"It's getting away from us, sir!" the man watching the radar scope called.

"Oh, no, it's not!" growled the Captain. "Launch the grapples!"

Two cables were fired from a crane overhanging the side of the whaling-ship which then wrapped themselves around Thunderbird 4's turbine thrusters.

"What the…?!" exclaimed Wizzy. "Dad, I've got a problem! They've caught me!"

"What?!" exclaimed Daniel. "How?!"

"They've grappled onto my thrusters!" Wizzy cried. "They're reeling me in!"

"Get out of there, now!" Daniel ordered.

Wizzy pushed Thunderbird 4 to the limit. It slowed the pull on the grapple winches but not by much.

The whalers were surprised. "Damn, this is a heavy one!" remarked the crane operator.

Daniel and Katie were pushing Thunderbird 2 to its limits. They had to get to Wizzy's location as quickly as possible.

"Kerry, can you hack into the whaling-ship's systems and kill the power?" Daniel asked.

"I'm trying to access it," Kerry replied. "But it's a hell of a tough one. I may not make it in time."

"Keep trying!" Daniel said. "We can't let Wizzy or Thunderbird 4 fall into their hands!"

Wizzy tried her best, but it was to no avail. The crane was too powerful and Thunderbird 4's turbines were beginning to overheat. "Thunderbird 2, I hope you're nearby," Wizzy said. "I'm almost at the surface."

"Wizzy, don't let them take you!" Daniel said. "I'm not losing you and we can't let them take control of Thunderbird 4. Use the laser to cut yourself free if you get the chance. We're about four minutes away!"

Wizzy shivered. "I don't have four minutes!" she cried.

At that moment, Thunderbird 4 began to emerge back-end first from beneath the surface. The crew of the whaling-ship stared in disbelief at what they'd caught.

"Are you kidding me?!" exclaimed the Captain. "What the hell is that doing here?"

"That's a Thunderbird craft!" exclaimed the First Officer. "CUT IT DOWN!" He shouted to the crane operator.

"NO, BELAY THAT!" roared the Captain. "Load it aboard! We can use this to our advantage."

The crew complied and the crane began to swing round moving Thunderbird 4 closer to the deck.

Wizzy was very rarely afraid, but she felt rather scared at this point. She looked around anxiously for any sign of Thunderbird 2, but the great green leviathan was nowhere to be seen. "Help!" Wizzy cried desperately.

The Captain was grinning with delight as Thunderbird got closer to the ship's deck. But suddenly, one of the whales jumped out from beneath the surface and crashed down onto the bow of the ship. The impact shook the entire ship knocking everyone off their feet. It also dislodged the crane causing Thunderbird 4 to fall back into the water. the cables also untangled themselves from the turbines allowing Thunderbird 4 to escape.

Wizzy was gasping, trying to get her breath back. As Thunderbird 4 levelled out, she looked around. The three whales had come back. The male had been the one that had attacked the ship and had caused a massive amount of damage to the bow. To her relief, it appeared to be unharmed.

The crew of the whaling-ship were just as stunned as Wizzy was. The Captain looked down at the partially destroyed bow. Then he got an urgent call from below decks.

"Captain, we've been holed!" yelled the Chief Engineer. "That whale almost severed the entire bow! We're taking on water!"

"Get the pumps going!" ordered the Captain. "We...AAARRGGH!"

Wizzy watched in astonishment as the female whale charged at the ship. Its great size and weight slammed into the port-side of the vessel piercing a huge hole in it. Even more water flooded in and as the whale pulled itself free, the ship began to list over onto its side.

The crew were panicking. Nobody waited for the Captain to give the order to abandon ship, they did it anyway.

"COME BACK, YOU IDIOTS!" yelled the Captain. "I NEVER GAVE THE ORDER!"

Nobody listened and they continued to jump overboard. Wizzy brought Thunderbird 4 to the surface and watched as the whaling -ships turned completely on its side and began to sink by the bow.

Thunderbird 2 arrived just in time to see the vessel as it disappeared beneath the surface. Daniel and Katie could see Thunderbird 4 and the whales swimming nearby.

"Wizzy…what's happened?" Daniel asked. "What did you do?"

"They saved me!" Wizzy gasped. "The whales attacked the ship, Dad. But how did they know?" At that moment, the whistling sound from the two adult whales started again. Wizzy was stunned when the translated words appeared on her screen. "You said, help."

"Wait, you mean they heard you call for help?" asked Katie, aghast.

"It…would seem so," said Wizzy, who was also as stunned.

* * *

The crew of the whaling-ship splashed about in the water amongst the debris whilst the whales began to circle them. Thunderbird 2 dropped Pod 4 into the water so that Thunderbird 4 could be winched aboard. Then the cables were dropped so that the pod could be picked up again.

"What about the crew?" asked Katie.

"The GDF have been alerted and are on their way to apprehend them," said Kerry over the radio. "If need be we can send video evidence from Thunderbird 4 to bring them to justice."

Wizzy entered the cockpit of Thunderbird 2 after exiting Thunderbird 4. She gazed down at the whales as they continued to circle around the crew.

"Don't worry, Wizzy – they'll face justice," said Daniel.

Wizzy nodded. "Thanks, Dad. I guess I owe them one now."

"Oh, come now, Wizzy, who could they do that?" asked Katie. "It's not like you can exchange mobile numbers with them."

Wizzy sat into the chair behind Daniel. She felt a bit sad but knew that Katie was right. "Goodbye, whales," she said tearfully as Thunderbird 2 turned to fly away. "Please, stay safe."

Thunderbird 2 left the scene leaving the two whales to guard the crew of the sunken ship until the Global Defence Force arrived to take them away.

* * *

Sionis was not a man who liked to get his hands dirty, which was why he hired people to do it for him. Once he'd realised that despite the heavy numbers, his men were being defeated one at a time by Penelope, Parker and Karolina, he grabbed some suitcases that were already packed with money stolen from the banks and ran out of the office towards a waiting car.

"We've been compromised!" Sionis said to the driver once he'd got in. "Get me out of here!"

The car set off, just as Karolina appeared at the door. "He's getting away, Lady Penelope!" she shouted.

"Then get after him!" ordered Penelope as knocked down another of Sionis's men.

Karolina grappled up to the roof of the building and ran along the top as fast as she could. Penelope and Parker finished taking down the last of the henchmen and set off in pursuit as well.

The Waste Plant complex was a maze of twists and turns through the various buildings. Karolina was fortunate as she could run along in a straight line and jump from rooftop to rooftop whereas the car with Sionis in couldn't go in a straight line. This enabled her to get to the exit point that he was heading towards first. It was located near an open grassy area close to a nearby cliff that led down into a valley.

As the car turned the last corner before the gate, Karolina jumped down and stood on the road. She took out her stun-gun and aimed it at the car.

"RUN HER DOWN!" bellowed Sionis.

The driver sped the car up, but Karolina fired two shots. One that smashed through the windscreen and the other to knock-out the driver. The car veered off to the left and crashed through the wall before skidding across the grass and coming to rest with its two left wheels hanging over the side.

The driver was unconscious, but Sionis wasn't. he angrily tried to get from the seat he was in to the right-side rear passenger door only for the car to shift slightly.

"Must…get out…" Sionis said to himself. But then Karolina appeared at the window with Penelope and Parker.

"You're done, Sionis," said Penelope. "The Police are on their way."

"How dare you interfere with my operations!" thundered Sionis. "You will all DIE!" He then pulled out a pistol and was about to fire when the ground under the car then suddenly gave way and it toppled over the side of the cliff. "Nononononono! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" screamed Sionis as the car plummeted over the edge to the horror of the other three. They peered over to see the car rolling down the cliff before landing on its roof at the bottom.

There was a short pause.

"Oops," said Karolina. "I…didn't mean for that to happen!"

"Come on, we need to find out if they're still alive," said Penelope.

Luckily, there was a footpath nearby that led them down the cliff to where the car had landed. Sionis and the driver had both been thrown out of the vehicle. The black mask that Sionis had been wearing was shattered so they could now see his face. Both men had severe cuts and bruises, but incredibly they were still alive.

"Well, Karolina," said Penelope. "Looks like you didn't make a big mistake after all." She smiled, and that made Karolina smile too.

Parker then cleared his throat. "Excuse me, m'lady? Miss Kyrano? I think I can 'ear sirens," he said.

"Then we'd better get out of here," said Penelope. "Call the car, Parker."

Parker used his keys to call FAB1 remotely to their location whilst Karolina used her watch to remotely call Thunderbird 7 down from the side of the building. Once it was hovering overhead, she grappled up to the cockpit and quickly flew away. At the same time, FAB1 arrived and Parker opened the door for Penelope before jumping in himself. They quickly left the scene as well, just moments before a large group of Police Cars arrived on the scene.

The Police were very baffled by what they'd found. Huge amounts of stolen money, over fifty men in black suits and masks who were all lying unconscious and most of all, the man behind it all at the bottom of a nearby cliff having miraculously survived falling thirty feet in a rolling car. And what was even more confusing to them was that all security feeds had been cut. There were no fingerprints or clues anywhere to who had taken them all down. But that was the International Rescue's way of dealing with covert operations – leave no clues behind.

* * *

As FAB1 and Thunderbird 7 headed away from the scene, all three felt great satisfaction for what they'd done that night.

"Thank you for your help, Karolina," said Penelope. "Have a safe flight back home."

"F-A-B, Lady Penelope," Karolina replied. "You too."

Penelope watched as Thunderbird 7 raced off into the distance disappearing against the bridge white light of the Moon.

"Quite the h'agent, isn't she, m'lady?" said Parker.

"Indeed she is, Parker," agreed Penelope. "Although some of her methods do leave quite a bit to be desired."

"Perhaps she takes h'after 'er h'uncle?" asked Parker.

"She certainly does not!" spluttered Penelope. "She really detests him with a passion! Too many times he's gotten away and each time it just fuels her hatred for him."

Parker felt a bit silly. "Yes, h'of course. Sorry, m'lady," he said. "'ome, m'lady?"

"Home, Parker," agreed Penelope.

FAB1 drove off into the night, heading back towards Creighton Manor. It had been a long and tiring mission for them all. It would be good to get a good night's' sleep.

Wizzy still couldn't work out how the whales had been able to come to her rescue. They had been swimming to get away from the whaling-ship. It made no sense to her why they should suddenly return the way they had done.

"I just don't get it," Wizzy told the others. "It was like they knew."

Jodie had got the answer. "I was giving Thunderbird 4 a check-over and I think I know how," she said. "You left the translator on, Wizzy. When you were telling Thunderbird 2 about your situation, they must have heard you say 'help' and came rushing to your aid."

"Seriously?" asked Adrienne. "But whales aren't that intelligent, are they?"

"It would seem they are," said Daniel. "Guessing they wanted to repay you for helping save their baby, Wizzy."

Wizzy considered the matter. "I guess so, Dad," she said. "And I got my wish as well."

"Yes, that's the quickest I've ever known a wish to come true," Daniel said.

"So what now, Wizzy?" asked Laura. "Now that you've seen some whales, what's next on your list?"

Wizzy laughed. "Nothing that I can think of, Laura," she said. "Seeing those whales was the best thing that I've ever seen. I really don't think that anything could ever beat that."


End file.
